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Biomedical subjects

A H Jobe

Publications and source records attributed to A H Jobe.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

The cardiopulmonary system: research and training opportunities.

The new biology has the potential to provide mechanistic insights into the causes and progression of complex cardiopulmonary diseases such as congenital heart disease and bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Such research requires collaborative investigation supported by sophisticated infrastructures and core facilities. Translating basic observations to clinical outcomes will require networks for collaborative translational research. The research initiatives require excellently trained and motivated clinician-scientists, but there are numerous barriers to the training and support of clinician-scientists in cardiology and neonatology.

Biomedical Research↗

Contribution of inflammation to lung injury and development.

Inflammation interferes with lung development in model systems and is present chronically in the lungs of preterm infants who develop bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Antenatal inflammation is very commonly associated with preterm deliveries, but there is generally minimal information about the duration, intensity, or organisms associated with chorioamnionitis. In preterm lamb models, chorioamnionitis causes a lung injury similar to BPD and also causes clinical lung maturation. Continuous exposure of the developing lung before and after delivery to inflammation may be central to the development of BPD.

Animals↗

Dose and time response after intraamniotic endotoxin in preterm lambs.

Intraamniotic endotoxin causes chorioamnionitis, which is followed by improved fetal lung function after 4 d in fetal sheep. We evaluated 0.1 mg, 1 mg, 4 mg, and 10 mg endotoxin for inflammation and lung maturation effects after 7 d. Four and 10 mg endotoxin caused similar lung maturation and inflammation in the lung and chorioamnion. The number of neutrophils in cord blood and the inflammatory cells in alveolar lavage and fetal lung tissue increased in a dose-dependent manner. Lower endotoxin doses induced indicators of chorioamnionitis, lung and systemic inflammation without inducing lung maturation. Therefore, some degree of inflammation can occur without subsequent lung maturation. The inflammatory changes caused by 4 mg endotoxin were assessed after 5 h, 24 h, 72 h, and 7 d to discern local versus systemic inflammation after intraamniotic endotoxin. At 5 h active inflammatory cells were in the airways producing hydrogen peroxide, and interleukin-6 and -8 were increased in the cord blood indicating both lung and systemic responses. Cells recruited into the amniotic fluid produced proinflammatory cytokine mRNA for 7 d with no cytokine mRNA in chorioamnion, lung, or spleen after 72 h. The cells in the amniotic fluid may be a source of prolonged fetal exposure to proinflammatory cytokines.

Amniotic Fluid↗

Effects of ventilation with different positive end-expiratory pressures on cytokine expression in the preterm lamb lung.

Ventilator-induced lung injury increases proinflammatory cytokines in the adult lung. We asked if positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) affects proinflammatory cytokine mRNA expression in the preterm lung. Preterm lambs at 129 +/- 3 d gestation were treated with 100 mg/kg recombinant human surfactant protein-C surfactant and ventilated for 2 or 7 h with 0, 4, or 7 cm H(2)O of PEEP. Unventilated fetal lambs were used as controls. Within 2 h of ventilation, alveolar total protein and activated neutrophils were increased and expression of mRNAs for the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) was increased in lung tissue of all ventilated animals relative to unventilated controls. Alveolar protein and neutrophils were higher for 0 and 7 PEEP animals than 4 PEEP animals. IL-1beta, IL-6, and IL-8 mRNAs were significantly elevated in animals ventilated with 0 PEEP compared with 4 PEEP. The percentage fractional area of collapsed alveoli was significantly higher for 0 PEEP compared with 4 and 7 PEEP groups. Mechanical ventilation increased the expression of proinflammatory mediators in surfactant-treated preterm lungs and the use of 4 PEEP minimized this response.

Animals↗

Prospects for research in reproductive health and birth outcomes.

In the last several decades there have been major improvements in the ability to control fertility, treat infertility, and reduce maternal, fetal, and infant mortality. However, neither the preterm birth rate nor the rate of long-term neurologic disabilities associated with preterm birth has declined. Increasing knowledge of the events leading to preterm birth and the pathophysiology of neonatal brain and lung injury suggests that the mortality and long-term impairments associated with these conditions will decrease. The large disparities in reproductive health and birth outcomes between industrialized and developing countries and between most other ethnic groups and blacks in the United States could be reduced by better access to already existing effective interventions.

Adult↗

Antenatal infection/inflammation and postnatal lung maturation and injury.

Chorioamnionitis is frequently associated with preterm deliveries before 30 weeks gestation. Chorioamnionitis correlates both with an increased risk of bronchopulmonary dysplasia and with a decreased risk of respiratory distress syndrome. Both interleukin-1alpha and endotoxin can induce inflammation in the fetal lungs and lung maturation after preterm birth when given by intra-amniotic injection. Inflammation can also result in an arrest of alveolarization, and this lung developmental abnormality is prominent in the lungs of preterm infants that die of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. The mechanisms by which infection/inflammation can have both beneficial and injurious effects on the preterm lung remain to be characterized.

Chorioamnionitis↗

Biology of surfactant.

Surfactant is a metabolically active assembly of phospholipids and surfactant-specific proteins that is essential for normal lung mechanics. The surfactant proteins SP-A and SP-D also have important innate host defense functions. Surfactant metabolism in the developing lung differs from the adult lung by having slower kinetics of secretion with a longer half-life and more efficient recycling. Ventilation styles that injure the lung also result in altered surfactant function.

Animals↗

Glucocorticoids, inflammation and the perinatal lung.

Many women delivering preterm infants at less than 30 weeks gestation have subclinical chorioamnionitis. Based on current guidelines, maternal glucocorticoid treatment is given to induce lung maturation. Fetal exposure to proinflammation can cause acute and chronic injury, but inflammation also can induce fetal lung maturation. Both antenatal glucocorticoids and inflammation modulate lung development, by inducing the surfactant system, inducing structural maturation, and inhibiting alveolarization. The opportunities for the future are to develop new safer strategies to mature the preterm foetus, and the risks are potential adverse interactions of repetitive glucocorticoid exposures and unrecognized fetal exposure to inflammation.

Female↗

Prevention of bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

The clinical syndrome of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in preterm infants results primarily from an arrest of lung vascular and alveolar development. The most likely mediators are proinflammatory cytokines that are induced by antenatal exposure to infection, postnatal ventilation, and oxygen exposure. New epidemiologic data suggest that attempts to avoid intubation and ventilation are the best ways to avoid severe BPD. The claim that one ventilation technique is better than another remains unconvincing, and any strategy that maintains the lung open and minimizes tidal volumes probably will be helpful. More adverse effects of postnatal steroids are being recognized. New insights into the pathophysiology of BPD and a new emphasis on minimizing ventilation and ventilator-mediated injury should improve outcomes for very preterm infants.

Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia↗

Intra-amniotic endotoxin increases pulmonary surfactant proteins and induces SP-B processing in fetal sheep.

Intra-amniotic (IA) endotoxin induces lung maturation within 6 days in fetal sheep of 125 days gestational age. To determine the early fetal lung response to IA endotoxin, the timing and characteristics of changes in surfactant components were evaluated. Fetal sheep were exposed to 20 mg of Escherichia coli 055:B5 endotoxin by IA injection from 1 to 15 days before preterm delivery at 125 days gestational age. Surfactant protein (SP) A, SP-B, and SP-C mRNAs were maximally induced at 2 days. SP-D mRNA was increased fourfold at 1 day and remained at peak levels for up to 7 days. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from control animals contained very little SP-B protein, 75% of which was a partially processed intermediate. The alveolar pool of SP-B was significantly increased between 4 and 7 days in conjunction with conversion to the fully processed active airway peptide. All SPs were significantly elevated in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid by 7 days. IA endotoxin caused rapid and sustained increases in SP mRNAs that preceded the increase in alveolar saturated phosphatidylcholine processing of SP-B and improved lung compliance in prematurely delivered lambs.

Amniotic Fluid↗

Intra-amniotic endotoxin: chorioamnionitis precedes lung maturation in preterm lambs.

The inflammatory and lung maturational effects of intra-amniotic exposure to endotoxin were assessed in fetal lambs. Five hours to 25 days after intra-amniotic injection of endotoxin, preterm lambs were delivered at 119-125 days gestation. Intra-amniotic endotoxin caused an inflammatory cell infiltration in amnion/chorion at 5 h, which persisted for 25 days. At 5-15 h after endotoxin, amnion/chorion cytokine mRNAs increased [12- to 26-fold for interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, and IL-8 mRNA and 3-fold for tumor necrosis factor-alpha mRNA]. At 1-2 days after endotoxin, lung cytokine mRNAs increased 6- to 49-fold. Endotoxin caused modest changes in peripheral white blood cell counts and no significant cytokine mRNA responses in fetal liver, placenta, or jejunum. Lung maturation, as characterized by increased lung volumes and alveolar saturated phosphatidylcholine, occurred at 7 days and persisted for 25 days after endotoxin. We conclude that exposure to a single dose of intra-amniotic endotoxin causes inflammation and increases in cytokine mRNA in amnion/chorion and the fetal lung before lung maturation, consistent with the hypothesis that proinflammatory cytokines signal lung maturation.

Amnion↗

Exogenous surfactant changes the phenotype of alveolar macrophages in mice.

Alveolar macrophages are essential for the maintenance of surfactant homeostasis. We asked whether surfactant treatment would change alveolar macrophage number and whether the alveolar macrophage phenotype would become activated or apoptotic when challenged in vivo with exogenous surfactant. Surfactant pool size in mice was increased by repetitive surfactant treatments containing 120 mg/kg (110 micromol/kg) saturated phosphatidylcholine. The number of alveolar macrophages recovered by alveolar lavage decreased after the first dose by 49% and slightly increased after the second and third doses. Up to 28.5% of the macrophages became large and foamy, and their appearance normalized within 12 h. Surfactant treatment did not increase the percent of apoptotic or necrotic cells. The alveolar macrophages were not activated as indicated by no change in expression of CD14, CD16, CD54, CD95, and scavenger receptor class A types I and II after surfactant treatment. Surfactant treatment in healthy mice transiently changed the phenotype of alveolar macrophages to large and foamy without indications of changes in the surface markers characteristic of activation.

Animals↗

Macrophage and type II cell catabolism of SP-A and saturated phosphatidylcholine in mouse lungs.

Type II cells and macrophages are the major cells involved in the alveolar clearance and catabolism of surfactant. We measured type II cell and macrophage contributions to the catabolism of saturated phosphatidylcholine and surfactant protein A (SP-A) in mice. We used intratracheally administered SP-A labeled with residualizing (125)I-dilactitol-tyramine, radiolabeled dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine ([(3)H]DPPC), and its degradation-resistant analog [(14)C]DPPC-ether. At 15 min and 7, 19, 29, and 48 h after intratracheal injection, the mice were killed; alveolar lavage was then performed to recover macrophages and surfactant. Type II cells and macrophages not recovered by the lavage were subsequently isolated by enzymatic digestion of the lung. Radioactivity was measured in total lung, lavage fluid macrophages, alveolar washes, type II cells, and lung digest macrophages. Approximately equal amounts of (125)I-dilactitol-tyramine-SP-A and [(14)C]DPPC-ether associated with the macrophages (lavage fluid plus lung digest) and type II cells when corrected for the efficiency of type II cell isolation. Eighty percent of the macrophage-associated radiolabel was recovered from lung digest macrophages. We conclude that macrophages and type II cells contribute equally to saturated phosphatidylcholine and SP-A catabolism in mice.

1,2-Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine↗

Surfactant protein A recruits neutrophils into the lungs of ventilated preterm lambs.

We tested the effects of surfactant protein A (SP-A) on inflammation and surfactant function in ventilated preterm lungs. Preterm lambs of 131 d gestation were ventilated for 15 min to initiate a mild inflammatory response, and were then treated with 100 mg/ kg recombinant human SP-C surfactant or with the same surfactant supplemented with 3 mg/kg ovine SP-A. Addition of SP-A to the SP-C surfactant did not change lung function. After 6 h of ventilation, cell numbers in the alveolar wash were 4.9 times higher in SP-A + SP-C-surfactant-treated animals. Cellular infiltrates consisted of neutrophils that produced less hydrogen peroxide than did cells from SP-C-surfactant-treated animals. Expression of adhesion molecules CD11b and CD44 was significantly greater after SP-A treatment, whereas the expression of CD14 was unchanged. Messenger RNAs (mRNAs) for the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, and IL-8, but not tumor necrosis factor-alpha, were increased in SP-A-treated lungs. Surfactant protein mRNAs and protein leakage into alveolar washes were not altered by SP-A, indicating that SP-A treatment produces no evidence of lung injury. The present study identifies an unanticipated role of SP-A in neutrophil recruitment in the lungs of preterm lambs.

Animals↗

Effects of gestation and antenatal steroid on airway and tissue mechanics in newborn lambs.

The aim of this study was to partition airway and parenchymal mechanics in newborn lambs at different gestations and following variable exposure to antenatal maternal betamethasone using the forced oscillation technique (FOT). Pulmonary impedance data were collected in 37 sedated and intubated apneic lambs with the FOT between 0.5 and 20 Hz and fitted by a model to estimate airway resistance (Raw) and inertance (Iaw) and the coefficients of tissue resistance (GL) and elastance (HL). Total respiratory resistance (Rrs) was also determined during tidal ventilation by using the multiple linear regression technique. Advancing gestation or increasing antenatal steroid exposure had no clinically significant effect on the values of Raw and Iaw, whereas Rrs and both GL and HL decreased markedly. There was a decrease in tissue hysteresivity (GL/HL) with repeated antenatal steroid exposure. Partitioning of lung mechanics highlights the dominant contribution of the tissues to the total respiratory resistance in the immature ovine lung. Clinically relevant changes in lung mechanics associated with structural and functional maturation of the immature ovine lung are primarily confined to the tissue compartment.

Administration, Topical↗